Adding subtitles to your video is crucial. It helps a wider audience, including those who are new to the language, hard of hearing, or can’t play videos with sound; to understand your content.
According to Facebook's recent study, 85% of social media content is watched with no sound, making captions and subtitles critical for viewer retention. Subtitled videos see a 12% increase in view times.
Videos with subtitles are also better for SEO because search engines can’t “watch” videos. So they rely on the text associated with the video – such as your video titles, descriptions, video tags, and subtitles, to understand the video’s content and context. According to YouTube's official channel for Creators – a closed-caption file opens up your entire video to search engine and helps it rank higher in search results.
So how do you generate subtitles for your videos? Here are 13 tools to try out!
1. Veed.io
Veed.io is offers AI technology to generate subtitles and allow you to download the subtitle files in various formats. To generate a video caption, simply upload your video to Veed, go “Subtitles” > “Auto Transcribe” > “Start”; and your video captions will be automatically generated.
You can refer to video tutorial above to see how this can be done. Alternatively, you can also manually type out or upload a text file on Veed to generate your video captions.
2. YouTube
YouTube’s automatic captioning feature can generate subtitles for your videos.
To use YouTube automatic captioning, sign in to YouTube Studio > Subtitles > Select the video you want to add captions or subtitles to > Select a language; and your video caption will be auto generated. To edit the auto generated subtitles, simply duplicate the file and edit it manually on the platform. The exact steps are shown in my short video above.
While not always 100% accurate, YouTube's auto captioning can be a useful starting point that you can edit and refine later. YouTube also comes with an auto translator – which you can translate your existing subtitles to hundred of other languages. This can helps your video to reach more audience globally.
3. Flexclip
Flexclip is a video maker that includes an automatic subtitle generator that supports MP4, MOV, M4V, WebM, and MP3 files. They use AI technology to transcribe your video’s audio and synchronize the text with your video. Currently the tool supports up to 140 languages, including English, German, Chinese, Spanish, and so on.
To see how subtitle generation is done on FlexClip – please refer to video above.
4. AmberScript
AmberScript is an online tool that provides automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology for transcription and subtitling of audio / video files. It aims to simplify the transcription process by converting spoken words into text with accuracy and speed. AmberScript offers various pricing plans depending on your needs – and it can transcribe videos in several languages.
You can learn how AmberScript works in the video.
5. Maestra
Maestra is an AI-powered transcription and subtitling tool that offers various features like customization, collaboration, and multiple language support. They also offer a free plan that includes up to 30 minutes of transcription and subtitling per month.
The video above shows how you can create a subtitle file through Maestra's online subtitle generator. The process only takes a few minutes and a few clicks. You can also translate your subtitles to more than 80 languages with their auto-translator.
6. Rev
Rev is a professional speech-to-text service provider that has been in operation since 2010. With over 750,000+ satisfied customers, Rev prides itself on its fast turnaround times, 99% accuracy rate, and a user-friendly platform that makes it easy for their clients. The company develops its own AI technology and employs a vast network of vetted freelancers to provide transcription, captioning, and translation services in over 35 languages.
7. Amara
Amara is an open-source tool for subtitling and translating videos. They use a community-based approach to subtitle creation and have a large community of volunteers who can help with the subtitling process.
8. Temi
Temi.com is another transcription service that uses AI technology to generate subtitles from your videos. They charge a flat rate of $0.25 per minute of audio.
9. Kapwing
Kapwing’s subtitle maker can automatically transcribe your video’s audio and synchronize the text with your video. They offer a free plan that includes up to 500 MB of video per month.
10. SubtitleBee
SubtitleBee AI-powered subtitle generator can transcribe your video’s audio and synchronize the text with your video. To generate your subtitles, upload your video on the platform and let the machine generate the subtitles. The company offers a free plan that includes up to 10 minutes of video per month.
11. Happy Scribe
Happy Scribe is a transcription and subtitle generator that uses AI technology. They offer different pricing plans depending on your needs.
12. Sonix.ai
Sonix is a cloud-based transcription and subtitle generator that uses AI technology. They offer different pricing plans depending on your needs.
That's a Wrap!
These are just a few examples of the many tools available for auto-generating subtitles from your videos. Be sure to research and compare different tools to find the one that best fits your needs and budget.
Additional Notes: Caption vs Subtitles
“Captions” and “Subtitles” are two different terms that are often used interchangeably. However, they are not the same thing. Both caption and subtitles appear as text on the screen – but they serve different purposes.
Captions are intended for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing. They display all of the audio information from a video, including dialogue, sound effects, and music. Captions describe any non-speech audio elements that are important to the content, such as a doorbell ringing or a dog barking. Captions also indicate who is speaking – which can be especially helpful when there are multiple speakers.
Subtitles, on the other hand, are intended for viewers who can hear the audio but may not understand the language. They display only the dialogue spoken in the video, translating it into another language if necessary. Unlike captions, subtitles do not include any non-speech audio elements such as sound effects or music.
Some video content may require both captions and subtitles. For example, a video in a foreign language may require subtitles to translate the dialogue, but it may also include non-speech audio elements that need to be captioned for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
